As Apple’s stock price continues to lurk in the $200 price range, CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets analyst Steven Fox opened up his firms coverage of Apple with a price target of $260. “Apple’s ecosystem is in the process of meaningfully expanding its reach through an increasingly robust set of applications,” Fox wrote in a recent note to investors, “…which can be compounded with the much-anticipated potential launch a tablet product in 2010.”

Fox also points out that Apple is making inroads into a number of large market segments, including the $26 billion hardware gaming market, the $6 billion market for navigation devices, and the $720 billion market for video cameras. And when you consider that Apple has been able to enter each of the aforementioned markets with only one device (the iPhone), it abundantly clear that Apple is operating on a completely higher level than its competitors.

Lastly, Fox anticipates that Apple will sell 70% more iPhones in 2010 (up to 35 million units) due to aggressive pricing, a next-gen iPhone model, expansion into new markets, and additional carrier relationships in countries where the iPhone already has a presence.